Cuts must be made carefully

Last week, City Administrator Ray Silver announced the need to make

some serious midyear cuts. It seems $11.5 million needs to be trimmed

from the city’s $135-million budget. Judging from the proposed cuts,

there is no fat on this bird.

Well, almost no fat. One midyear cut announced last week was long

overdue. That is the elimination of HBTV-3. This city can’t afford to

be in the public television business.

But other proposed cuts announced last week are cause for concern,

and perhaps, they are a little too meaty compared to some other

portions.

Silver announced a plan to scale back the city’s work force and

layoff of 55 active employees. These personnel cuts start with vacant

spots, but then cuts are made by seniority.

While there are some upper-level managers on the list, those

higher-ups are offered the chance to “bump” lower level employees and

take a demotion. That means the men and women who make a difference

in residents’ everyday lives will be gone. While we applaud the

decision to make some cuts at the top, doing it in this manner still

hurts the little guy and in turn the average citizen, doesn’t it?

Another great concern is the announcement of the closure of two

library branches. Surely, there are better places to cut than the

city libraries. There are other programs that seem much less

beneficial. The public safety fair, for instance, or the bike safety

classes. These are great programs, but in crunch times, they are not

crucial.

The city is, and can expect, to receive serious opposition to this

part of the plan. Even in the city’s pool of meager responses to its

online budget survey, residents ranked libraries close to the top

with infrastructure and water quality.

Education, reading and resources are vital to a community. Let

street landscaping fall by the wayside until next year, if need be.

Let’s look into the citizen’s police academy -- how much does it

cost, and how effective is it?

Clearly, with revenues not coming in as they once did, changes

need to be made. Cuts are inevitable. But let’s make sure they are

made wisely and in the right places.